1. Field of the Invention
Crimping apparatus for crimping separate parts of a metal sleeve arranged concentrically about the junction between a shielded cable and a plug connector, such that upon a single angular movement of an annular operating member in a given direction about its longitudinal axis, one end of the sleeve is crimped to the plug in one manner, and the other end of the sleeve is crimped to the shielded cable in another manner.
2. Description of Related Art
Various models of crimping devices are well known in the electrical connector art, as shown, for example, by the prior U.S. patents to Schmode No. 6,997,028, Hetland et al No. 7,055,361, Heggemann et al No. 7,325,438, each assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.
The present invention was developed to provide a crimping device that can be used especially for the crimping of cables, where the terminal segment of a shielded cable (or conductor) is to be crimped several times with at least one metal sleeve in the exposed area. The invention-based crimping device is designed to create at least two or more axially mutually offset crimping areas in only one work step. In this way, the time needed for crimping is kept at a minimum, and one can also make sure that the two crimping areas always have a constant interval from each other.
Preferably, two or more axially mutually offset crimping dies are provided, which again, in a particularly preferred manner, are coupled together in a non-rotatable fashion. These crimping dies are of simple structure and preferably include crimping dies that are coupled together in a non-rotatable fashion and that in each case act upon radially displaceable crimping bars.
Preferably, the crimping depth of at least one crimping die is made adjustable, and the crimping depth of the other crimping die is firmly preset in order to be able to make or process the various crimping depths and cable diameters.